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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28889814">Waking up to you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legitaprincess/pseuds/Legitaprincess'>Legitaprincess</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Banana Fish (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bets &amp; Wagers, Dialogue Heavy, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Other characters are briefly mentioned - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Waking Up</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:56:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,602</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28889814</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legitaprincess/pseuds/Legitaprincess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ash wasn’t some senile old man. He was a young, 24-year-old masters student, who should be able to stay up till 4 AM, sleep for 2 hours, chug 3 monsters and make it through a day, dammit.</p><p>OR </p><p>Ash wants to sleep in and he can't. It's all Eiji's fault.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>119</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Waking up to you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm so glad that I am *finally* posting this. It has been sitting in my WIPs for over a year. After some edits, here it is :) As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. I hope you all are staying safe and healthy &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ash was not a morning person. He also wasn’t an afternoon person. Barely a night person. If it was possible to just stay in bed for hours on end, he would do it. On days, where there weren’t any appointments with Dino or his gang had reported nothing unusual, he’d curl up in his bed, feeling the iron frame under the thin mattress. It was uncomfortable, but he felt so small and safe in his shitty bed, that he didn’t mind waking up sore. He’d just lay and go on his phone, mindlessly scrolling and letting himself relax for a few hours. And then Eiji happened.</p><p>Eiji. Kind, sweet, up his ass about maintaining a normal sleep schedule, Eiji.</p><p>When they had first begun living together, Ash could excuse his weird sleep habits on the fact that they were literally running from the mafia. That had been a pretty convincing excuse and Eiji himself had had a shit sleep schedule, though he did manage to wake up before 12 every day.</p><p>Now, living in a small apartment, home to two men, one dog, and a few stray cats that they absolutely had no room for, he had no excuse. There would always be some noise, regardless of the time of day, but especially in the morning when Buddy wanted to go for walks, Tama wanted food, Cherry wanted attention and Kobe just wanted to be an asshole and ruin his life. Ash could usually ignore them and sleep through the noise, leaving Eiji to deal with them. The <em>real</em> issue was Eiji, himself.</p><p>Eiji, being the absolute demon he was, always picked 8 AM classes and would open the blinds as soon as he woke up, stretching obnoxiously and rubbing Ash’s hair until he woke up.</p><p>Ash loved Eiji and would die for him, but he also loved his sleep and would most definitely kill for it. It was a pretty serious problem.</p><p> </p><p>And now he had a bigger problem: he was sleeping too early. It wasn’t as if sleeping early was a bad thing and Ash would be fine if it was a reasonable time.</p><p>But it was getting to the point where Ash was feeling sleepy at 9 PM and in bed at 10, 11 at the latest. He refused to live like this. He wasn’t some senile old man. He was a young, 24-year-old masters student, who should be able to stay up till 4 AM, sleep for 2 hours, chug 3 monsters and make it through a day, dammit.</p><p>Eiji may have called that “unhealthy” and “stupid”, but Eiji also didn’t know how to have fun.</p><p> </p><p>“We need to talk.” Ash was sitting at the table, a glass of water in his hands.</p><p> </p><p>Eiji looked up from washing the dishes, brows drawn in, lips pursed. “Is this about Tama’s diet? I told you to stop giving him extra treats. He’s getting too fat.” Eiji shook his head, going back to rinsing a plate.</p><p> </p><p>“Ok, first of all, Tama is not fat, he’s just… soft,” Ash looked down at the small Bobtail who, okay, was looking a bit chubbier than usual. But that was not what this was about. “Secondly, that’s not what I wanna talk about.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh? Should I be worried?” Drying his hands on the unnecessarily fancy towels he insisted on using in the kitchen, Eiji pulled out the chair opposite to Ash, hands folded on the table, waiting.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, you should be.” Ash glared, ignoring, the quirk of Eiji’s eyebrow. “We need to talk about how you don’t let me sleep.”</p><p> </p><p>“You slept at 10 yesterday and woke up at 12. I am pretty sure that counts as sleeping.” Eiji, the asshole, had the audacity to start grinning, looking too cute. Ash was trying to be mad here.</p><p> </p><p>“Exactly. I slept at 10,” he paused, continuing when Eiji shot him a confused look. “I’m 23, not 70. I should be staying up ‘til 3.”</p><p> </p><p>Eiji just raised one eyebrow. “Then do it?”</p><p> </p><p>Ash sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically. “I wish I could, Eiji, except I can’t. Wanna know why?”</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm, not really. But I’m guessing you’ll tell me anyway.”</p><p> </p><p>Ash chose to ignore that remark and continued because he was the smart and mature one here. “I can’t because <em>someone</em> wakes up every day at 7 and refuses to let me sleep in.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, that person sounds terrible Ash. I really hope they stop being so rude to you.” Eiji deadpanned. “How dare they help you get a normal sleeping schedule?” With his chin in his hand, Eiji stared at Ash. “Also, you slept till 12 today, so that’s a lie.”</p><p> </p><p>“Only because you weren’t at home and opening all the blinds in the house!”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, fine, fair point. But what’s wrong about going to sleep at a reasonable time?”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, Eiji, you clearly aren’t understanding how serious this is.”</p><p> </p><p>“Please tell me.”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t go to parties anymore, because by 10 I’m ready to go to bed. Which means I can’t party.”</p><p> </p><p>“Your life is so hard.”</p><p> </p><p>Clearly, Eiji just thought this was a joke. Taking a deep breath in, Ash gathered all his patience. He really loved Eiji and truth be told, he didn’t care all that much about waking up early. No, he wanted Eiji to admit that he was wrong. Was that too much to ask for?</p><p> </p><p>“Okay have you ever stayed up all night long? For fun?”</p><p> </p><p>Eiji scoffed. “Of course, I have. I was a dumb university student once too.”</p><p> </p><p>“Just 'cause you’re not a college student anymore, doesn’t mean you aren’t stupid.”</p><p> </p><p>“So very mature of you, Ash.” Sighing, he leaned forward. “I’ll be honest Ash, the only reason I wake up so early is because I like mornings. I wake you up because if you have a routine throughout the year, getting you up for your 8 AMs will not be a pain for me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, whatever, just answer me this: have you stayed up for fun in the last year?”</p><p> </p><p>This got Eiji to pause. “Well, maybe once or twice…”</p><p> </p><p>“New Year’s doesn’t count. Neither does Shorter’s birthday.” Now it was Ash’s turn to sigh. “Eiji, I respect you and your weird habits but you gotta live a little.”</p><p> </p><p>“Last time I checked I was alive and that means I am living.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, fine smartass, you need to do stupid shit sometimes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why would I want to do that?”</p><p> </p><p>“So you can see how fun it is!”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm,” Eiji tapped his lips with one finger, “I’ll pass.”</p><p> </p><p>Ash didn’t want to do this but Eiji left him no choice. “Fine, how about a bet?”</p><p> </p><p>At this Eiji, looked at Ash, eyes widening with interest. “What kind of bet?” Ash grinned. He got him. Eiji was nothing if not competitive.</p><p> </p><p>“Whoever can stay up the longest gets to decide when we go to sleep and wake up on the weekends.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why does that matter though? If you want to sleep in, no one is stopping you. I know I do force you to get up on weekdays, but even I do not bother you on weekends.”</p><p> </p><p>“Because anytime you wake up before me on a weekend, you start cleaning or playing with Tama and I can’t sleep.”</p><p> </p><p>At this Eiji smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Yea, okay that’s true.” Tilting his head, he continued, “so when are we doing this?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, why not tonight? It’s the weekend and neither of us has work or classes tomorrow.” Ash knew he was cheating. Eiji had had work today and had cooked as well. He was going to be exhausted. But Ash needed every advantage he could get.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t think I don’t know what you're doing, Ash,” Eiji glared at the younger boy. “But, fine, whatever. Might as well get it over with.”</p><p> </p><p>“Awesome! Just one more thing,” leaning over he picked up Eiji’s phone, placing it on the center of the table. “No phones since they’ll give us an unfair way to stay up. Game consoles and other things are fair though.”</p><p> </p><p>Eiji just shrugged, moving to sit on their small sofa, picking up a book. “I’m pretty sure your switch is more distracting and unfair but whatever you say.”</p><p>Ash sat beside him, Switch in hand, ignoring Eiji’s insights. The clock read 8. This was going to be a very short night.</p><p>|</p><p>Ash was dying. That was the only way to explain why his eyes felt so gritty and his body so heavy. His Switch lay abandoned on the floor beside him. He glanced at the clock, wondering how much time had passed. The two hands were pointing at 1 and 12, so that meant it was… something o’clock. He felt his brain attempting to make sense of the numbers, the ticking, and the way the light was blurring in and out of focus. With extraordinary effort, he turned to look at Eiji, wondering if he had passed out yet.</p><p>Eiji sat quietly, fingers thumbing the pages of his book, eyes looking tired but not closing. He flipped the page, engrossed in, Ash tilted his head, string theory, and the universe. It was a book Ash had been planning on reading. Maybe he’d borrow it after Eiji finished reading it.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Eiji,” he barely hid a yawn.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up from his book, Eiji looked at him, glasses slipping down his nose. “Yes?”</p><p> </p><p>“What time is it?”</p><p> </p><p>Eiji stared at him for a few moments, before gesturing towards the clock. “Ash,” he began slowly, “the two hands are near 1, which means it is around one o’clock.”</p><p> </p><p>Ash blinked at him, the numbers <em>finally </em>meaning something. Wow, he must be out of it. It was probably because he had a calculus midterm the other day. His brain was still recovering from the math overload. He ignored the fact that he had helped Eiji calculate his sales and bills just a few hours ago. That wasn’t the same as telling time. This was infinitely much harder.</p><p>“Oh, yea. I knew that.” He yawned. Eiji looked incredibly comfortable all of a sudden, all warm in his ugly sweater, his hair too long and falling into his eyes, that looked incredibly concerned. He was beautiful. Why was he so pretty? It really wasn’t fair.</p><p>Ash felt his lips push into a pout as he stared at Eiji, who was unfairly adorable and kind and sweet and Ash just wanted a hug from him. But if he did hug him, he knew he would get too comfortable and possibly fall asleep. A very slim chance but it was still there.</p><p> </p><p>“Acchan, do you want to call a draw?” The soft nickname made Ash feel warm inside, the corners of his lips turning up slightly. Then, he paused. Wait, what did Eiji say?</p><p> </p><p>“No way. I am not falling for that. Plus, what would a draw mean?” He shook his head, forcing himself to sit up.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing, Eiji put down his book, rubbing at his temples, eyebrows raised. He was giving Ash the look that meant he was acting like a five-year-old and that no, you couldn’t just do stupid shit and say it was for science. “Ash, babe, we both know this is a stupid bet that you are going to lose anyway. Why are you being so stubborn?”</p><p> </p><p>“That sounds like you’re just tryna make an excuse so you don’t lose.” Ash crossed his arms, leaning back against the couch. “Plus, I have years of experience of running on two hours of sleep. I kinda took down the mafia like that, remember?”</p><p> </p><p>“I do not doubt your ability but that’s not something to brag about,” Eiji took his hand in his, lacing their fingers together. “I’m actually really happy that now it is so hard to wake you up and that you can sleep through the night. I don’t want you to feel unsafe or that there is someone who will come and take this away from you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ei-chan that’s really sweet and in any other situation I would’ve kissed you, but since I wanna win this bet, I’m not going to.”</p><p> </p><p>“How unfortunate. I don’t get to kiss my boyfriend whose breath probably stinks and is a big baby.” Eiji paused. “Also, why would kissing even matter?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because when I kiss you, I get all weird and soft, which makes me feel tired.”</p><p> </p><p>“I am not sure if I should be offended since you’ve essentially just me that I don’t turn you on.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, if you wanna spice things up let me know, we can always try something new like –“</p><p> </p><p>“I am not having this conversation while you are half asleep.” Stretching out his legs, Eiji moved to stand up. “Well, I’m going to make myself something to eat, would you like anything?”</p><p> </p><p>At this, Ash perked up, pushing himself on his elbows. “Coffee please.”</p><p> </p><p>“I feel like that should count as cheating.” But despite his complaint, Eiji still went to the fridge, grabbing creamer and premade coffee mix. He warmed the creamer in the microwave, 23 seconds, before taking out the cup and adding two tablespoons of the coffee mix. Mixing it, he heated it up for 15 more seconds before bringing it back to Ash.</p><p> </p><p>“Here, just how you like it. Incredibly sweet and gross.” Eiji resumed his place on the couch, picking up where he had left off in his book.</p><p> </p><p>Then it hit Ash. “You didn’t get anything.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” He looked up from his book, confusion lining his face.</p><p> </p><p>“You said you were getting yourself food or something but you didn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>Eiji shrugged. “Yes, I realized I wasn’t hungry.”</p><p> </p><p>“Aww, are you feeling all shy? You could’ve just said that you were worried about me.” Ash grinned placing his head on Eiji’s thighs. “I love you, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know, I love you too.” He ran a hand through Ash’s hair, slowly working through the knots, nails lightly scratching his scalp.</p><p> </p><p>“No, but I really, really love you. You’re like the light of my life. My hikaro-“</p><p> </p><p>“Hikari, you mean.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yea, that! And you’re always so nice and you always make me food and tell me about photography and random muscle facts.” Ash buried his face into Eiji’s thighs, muffling his yawn.</p><p> </p><p>“But you know what I love most about you?”</p><p> </p><p>“What, Acchan?”</p><p> </p><p>“I love how you make me love things I used to hate. Like I only would wake up early if I had to meet Dino or had something going on. But remember when we first moved here? You woke up and made tea and I woke up because the bed was cold. Then when I went to go see where you were, you were just sitting, watching the sunrise. And then you made me sit with you and drink tea and just watch. It felt really nice.</p><p>“Mornings were always so shitty for me. It just meant that I had to do something. But with you, it means I get another day with you and I love you so much.” He looked up, eyes blearing.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re so cute,” Eiji leaned down, kissing Ash’s forehead.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I wanna be cool,” Ash pouted, burying his face in Eiji’s lap.</p><p> </p><p>“Ahh, too late for that.” Eiji ran his hands through Ash’s hair, following the curve of his face. Rubbing soft circles under his chin, he spoke. “Want to go to sleep? We can wake up and watch the sunrise?”</p><p> </p><p>“Only if we can go to sleep after for a nap?”</p><p> </p><p>Eiji smiled, lacing their fingers together. “I would not have it any other way."</p>
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